The invention relates to a method and a system for automatic updating of an access path to the system disk of a hardware perimeter of computer resources during launching of an operating activity on this perimeter.
More precisely, the method and the system relate to configurable systems of computer resources which are adapted to:
configure several perimeters intended to be activated simultaneously or successively, each perimeter including:
a central processing unit formed by one or several calculation cells of a multi-cell computer platform,
resources common to the whole of the platform of which at least a system disk is connected to the central processing unit via addressable means for interconnection of the platform to the system disk, and
a working memory containing the access path used during the activation of the perimeter in order to launch an operating system contained in the system disk, this access path being composed of an upper part defining the hardware elements to be run through in order to reach the interconnection means from the processing unit, this upper part being solely a function of the processing unit used in this perimeter, and a lower part defining the hardware elements to be run through in order to reach the system disk from the interconnection means, this lower part being solely a function of the position of the system disk with respect to the interconnection means,
define an operating activity capable of being launched successively on several different perimeters, the activity bringing together software means to be utilised in order to carry out this activity, these software means including at least one operating system capable of managing the hardware resources of the perimeter on which the activity is to be launched.
At the present time one of the main lines of development of computer hardware and/or systems concerns the implementation of a maximum flexibility of the configurable computer resources to the advantage of a user having significantly reduced computer resources locally.
In the current configurable or reconfigurable computer systems, as shown in FIG. 1, a multi-cell computer platform PF is used. The multi-cell platform PF is formed by a plurality of calculation cells Ckj including at least one central processing unit and local working memories of which one is a non-volatile memory known as a NVRAM memory. The working memories of each cell include in particular a start-up program or BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) program and an access path to a system disc containing an operating system capable of managing a calculation cell or a group of calculation cells. On starting of the cell or the group of cells, the access path is used by the BIOS program to recognise the location of the system disk containing the operating system to be loaded and launched. The access path is usually stored in the NVRAM memory.
In the configurable or reconfigurable systems such as are shown in FIG. 1, there are resources common to the all of the cells of the platform. These common resources include bulk memories, among them in particular system disks and data disks. The data disks include for example application software to be executed and/or data to be processed. By way of example, in FIG. 1 the common resources include a data disk DD1 containing application software L1, a system disk DS1 containing an operating system OS1, a data disk DD2 containing application software L2 and a disk system DS2 containing an operating system OS2.
In order to ensure maximum flexibility of these systems, the common resources are connected to the platform PF by addressable interconnection means MI in accordance with a SAN (Storage Area Network) architecture. These interconnection means MI are intended to permit access to the common resources from any cell or group of cells configures on the platform PF. Thus a data disk can be accessed from a cell Ckj in a given configuration of the platform PF, then subsequently by a cell Ckj+1 within the framework of a different configuration of the platform. Such interconnection means MI are therefore capable of permitting all of the cells of the platform to access the common resources without it being necessary for this purpose to carry out any rewiring operation.
Finally, the configurable or reconfigurable computer systems also include an administration tool MT which permits a user to bring together the computer hardware resources in perimeters of computer resources P1 intended to execute operating activities Ai. Within the context of the configurable or reconfigurable systems, the term xe2x80x9coperating activityxe2x80x9d designates all of the software means necessary in order to implement a function which a user of the system wishes to carry out. Examples of such functions are, for example, the establishment of pay slips or the generation of lists of clients to contact. An activity therefore includes at least one operating system capable of managing the hardware computer resources of the platform. As the function required by the user is not generally met by the operating system by itself, an operating activity commonly has in addition one or several items of application software intended to be executed on the operating system in order to carry out the functions required by the user. Here, an activity A1 includes the software L1 and the operating system OS1.
Each perimeter Pi is formed by a group of cells Ckj and a part of the common resources such as a data disk and at least one system disk. It is possible in these systems to define several perimeters Pi. For example, in FIG. 1 two perimeters P1 and P2 have been configured. The perimeter Pi, delimited by a first dotted line, includes a first group of cells, the data disk DD1 and the system disk DS1. The perimeter P2, delimited by a second dotted line, includes a second group of cells separate from the first group of cells, the data disk DD2 and the system disk DS2.
When two perimeters such as the perimeters P1 and P2 of FIG. 1 each use material resources separate from those of the other perimeter, they can be executed simultaneously on the same platform. In the opposite case, they must be executed successively on the platform PF.
Such systems correspond to systems or machines which are usually designated by the term of partition machines. They normally permit the installation and execution simultaneously or successively of different operating activities Ai in different perimeters of the platform. Nevertheless, when such an installation is carried out it is not generally possible for one and the same operating activity executed in a first perimeter to be transferred simply to a different perimeter without reinstallation or physical manipulation. In fact, the execution context of the operating activity containing for example the different environment variables necessary for starting or restarting the operating activity is saved, at least in part, in the local working memories of the perimeter. This is the case in particular for the access path to the system disk. Thus a user currently has two solutions available when he wishes to relaunch the activity A1 hitherto executed in the perimeter P1 in the new perimeter P2. The first solution consists of physically replacing the system disk DS2 of the perimeter P2 by the system disk DS1 of the perimeter P1. At the end of the physical manipulation, the access path stored in the NVRAM memory of the perimeter P2 does indeed correspond to an access path to the system disk DS1.
The second solution consists of carrying out a reinstallation operation of the system disk of the perimeter P2 in order to replace the access path currently stored in the local NVRAM memory of the perimeter P2 by a corresponding new access path to the system disk DS1. However, irrespective of the solution adopted in order to include the system disk of the activity A1 in a new perimeter, the operations are long and tedious.
The invention aims to remedy this drawback by proposing a simpler method for including a new system disk in a computer perimeter configured on a multi-cell platform.
It therefore relates to a method of automatic updating of an access path to the system disk, in a configurable system, such as is defined above, characterised in that it comprises:
during the installation of a new system disk, a step of saving the lower part of the access path to the new system disk in a list of access paths stored in a memory,
on the occasion of the definition of the operating activity, a step of associating with this activity the lower part, stored in the list of access paths, corresponding to the system disk including the operating system launched during this activity,
on the occasion of the launching of the activity on a perimeter, a step of automatic updating of the access path contained in the working memory of this perimeter by combining the upper part of the access path of this perimeter with the lower part of the access path associated with this activity during its definition.
According to the method described above, irrespective of the perimeter used to install a system disk, at least the lower part of the access path to this new system disk is stored in a memory associated with the administration tool. Thus the information on the position of the system disk with respect to the interconnection means, determined during the first installation of this new system disk in a perimeter, is not reserved for the perimeter used to install this new system disk but, on the contrary, is stored in a memory with a view to being reused. This is what is done during the definition of a new activity in the method described above.
During this definition of a new activity, the new activity is associated with the lower part of the system disk contained in the memory. The lower part associated with the new activity corresponds to the system disk containing the operating system intended to be implemented in order to carry out this activity.
Then, during the launching of this new activity on a new perimeter, the access path to the system disk of this new perimeter is automatically updated. In fact, the upper part of the access path of the new perimeter is known since it is constant. This upper part is constant because in a configurable system such as is described above the system disks are connected to the corresponding processing units via addressable interconnection means. Therefore no rewiring operation is necessary in order to connect a processing unit to the interconnection means and the upper part of each perimeter is therefore constant.
In order to reconstruct an access path to the system disk containing the operating system to be launched during the execution of this new activity, only the lower part of the access path currently stored in the working memory of the new perimeter should be updated. For that, this lower part is replaced by the one associated with the activity which is going to be launched on this new perimeter. Thus the access path of the new perimeter is automatically updated without any rewiring operation or reinstallation of a system disk being necessary during the transfer of an activity from one perimeter to another perimeter.
According to other characteristics of a method for automatic updating of an access path to the system disk according to the invention:
the step of association consists of storing in the memory an identity file containing not only an identifier of the operating activity but also an identifier of the lower part of the access path recorded in the list, this lower part corresponding to the system disk including the operating system launched during the execution of this activity,
the step of saving includes an operation of neutralisation of the access path to be recorded in the list of access paths, this operation consisting of deleting the upper part of the complete access path to the new disk and only entering in the list of access paths the access path to the new system disk without its upper part,
when the installation of the new system disk is effected from a perimeter including a startup program (BIOS) capable of storing the access path to the new system disk in the working memory of this perimeter, the step of saving includes:
an operation of transmission to an administration tool associated with the memory of the lower part of the access path to the new system disk, this operation being carried out by the startup program, and
an operation of recording in the list of access paths of the lower part transmitted by the startup program, this operation being carried out by the administration tool,
during the operation of transmission of the lower part of the access path, the startup program transmits to the administration tool the complete access path to the new system disk, and the operation of neutralisation of the access path and the operation of recording in the list of access paths are carried out successively by the administration tool,
when an activity is launched on a perimeter including a startup program (BIOS) capable of launching the operating system, the method includes, after the step of updating of the new perimeter, a step of launching of the operating system corresponding to the updated access path, carried out by the startup program (BIOS).
The invention also relates to a configurable system of computer resources, including:
a plurality of hardware perimeters of computer resources intended to be activated simultaneously or successively, each perimeter including:
a central processing unit formed by one or several calculation cells of a multi-cell computer platform,
resources common to the whole of the platform of which at least a system disk is connected to the central processing unit via addressable means for interconnection of the platform to the system disk, and
a working memory containing the access path used during the activation of the perimeter in order to launch an operating system contained in the system disk, this access path being composed of an upper part defining the hardware elements to be run through in order to reach the interconnection means from the processing unit, this upper part being solely a function of the processing unit used in this perimeter, and a lower part defining the hardware elements to be run through in order to reach the system disk from the interconnection means, this lower part being solely a function of the position of the system disk with respect to the interconnection means,
an administration tool adapted to define an operating activity capable of being launched successively on several different perimeters, the activity bringing together software means to be utilised in order to carry out this activity, these software means including at least one operating system capable of managing the hardware resources of the perimeter on which the activity is to be launched,
characterised in that it includes:
a module for saving in a memory of a list of access paths containing the lower parts of the access paths to the system disks,
a module for association with the activity the lower part, stored in the list of access paths, corresponding to the system disk including the operating system launched during this activity,
a module for automatic updating of the access path contained in the working memory of a perimeter by combining the upper part of the access path of this perimeter with the lower part of the access path associated with the activity with the aid of the module for association.
According to other characteristics of the a system for automatic updating of an access path to the system disk according to the invention:
the module for saving includes a sub-module for neutralisation of the access path to be recorded in the list of access paths, this module for saving being capable of deleting the upper part of the complete access path to a system disk to be recorded in the list of access paths,
each perimeter includes a startup program (BIOS) capable of storing the access path to the new system disk in the working memory of the perimeter, and this startup program is adapted to transmit automatically to the module for saving at least the lower part of the complete access path to the new system disk.
The invention also relates to a memory intended to be used in a configurable system according to the invention, characterised in that it includes an identity file associating an identifier of an operating activity and an identifier of the lower part of a corresponding access path to the system disk including the operating system launched during the execution of this activity.